MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- A Minnesota football coach says he's thankful to be "waking up from this nightmare" after a judge dismissed child pornography charges against him.

Todd Hoffner, the head coach at Minnesota State University-Mankato, said Friday that he's looking forward to getting his life, job and family back.

Prosecutors charged Hoffner after cellphone videos of his three children were found on his university-issued cellphone. He and his wife argued the videos were innocent family moments of their kids doing a skit after a bath.

A judge agreed Friday, saying she found no evidence that the videos amounted to pornography, and dismissed the case.

The school says Hoffner remains on leave pending its investigation. Hoffner says he wants to go back to work.------------------------------- MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- A Minnesota State-Mankato football coach won't be going back to work right away even though a child-porn case against him has been dismissed.

A Blue Earth County judge tossed out charges Friday against head coach Todd Hoffner, who had been accused of making indecent cell phone videos of his own children. The judge wrote that the videos appeared to be nothing more than nude children dancing and acting silly after a bath.

Dan Benson, a spokesman for the university, says Hoffner will remain on administrative leave pending the school's own investigation.

Benson said he had no timetable for when that investigation would end.

Hoffner has been on leave all season. The Mavericks are 12-0 and have reached the national playoff quarterfinals in Division II.------------------ MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- A Minnesota judge has dismissed child pornography charges against a college football head coach accused of making pornographic videos of his children.

Blue Earth County District Court Judge Krista Jass says in her ruling Friday that the case against Todd Hoffner is dismissed for lack of probable cause.

Hoffner is the head coach at Minnesota State, Mankato. Before that, he was head coach at UW-Eau Claire. Hoffner was charged in August with two felonies. Prosecutors said he made videos of his children performing suggestive acts while naked.

Hoffner and his wife insisted all along that the videos were not inappropriate, and were merely images of children acting silly and dancing after taking a bath.

A search of Hoffner's home found no evidence of child porn, and social workers found no evidence of abuse.-------------------Previous Stories:

MANKATO, Minn. (WEAU) - There's no ruling from a Minnesota judge in the case against a former UW-Eau Claire head football coach accused of making pornographic videos on a cellphone.

On Wednesday, Todd Hoffner's lawyer asked the judge to dismiss the case.

Hoffner testified in court that his kids asked him to shoot the videos after they came up with a skit in the bathtub. Hoffner, the current Minnesota State-Mankato head football coach, says he never watched the videos or showed them to anyone.

The judge gave lawyers until November 14 to file more information.

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MANKATO, Minn. (AP) -- The attorney for a Minnesota State, Mankato, football coach accused of child pornography is trying to persuade a judge to dismiss the case.

Attorney Jim Fleming called three law officers to the stand Wednesday to try to show they had doubts whether the videos found on coach Todd Hoffner's university-owned cellphone were child pornography.

But under questioning by a prosecutor, the investigators said they found the videos disturbing and raised questions with the Blue Earth County attorney's office only to find out what laws applied.

Hoffner was put on paid leave and charged in August with two felony counts after videos of his children were found on his cellphone.

At the start of the hearing, Judge Krista Jass entered a CD containing the video into evidence but ordered it sealed.------------------------Previous Story:

MANKATO, Minn. (AP) - The attorney for the Minnesota St., Mankato, football coach who faces child pornography charges says county officials found no evidence that his client abused his kids.

Todd Hoffner's attorney released letters Monday that Blue Earth County social worker Holly Barkeim sent to Hoffner and his wife in late September.

The Mankato Free Press reports that in thoseletters, Barkeim says child protection services are not needed.

Hoffner was charged in late August after videos of his three childrendancing naked and touching themselves were found on his work-issued cellphone.

Hoffner's wife and his attorney have said the videos are innocent family moments.

Attorney Jim Fleming said he is planning to file a motion to ask the judge to dismiss the charges.

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